Its Not Like This
by FlintPunk
Summary: A story of a woman named Ellen, telling Ellie and Joel about a David before he became who he was when he died. Was he always such an awful person? Or did it just happen overtime? Ellen seems to know the whole thing. Behind every dark person is a hidden story, it seems like Ellen is one of the only ones who knows about his... Rated T for mild violence and explicit language
1. Prologue

This is a story about David. I know his character was awful in the game, but he never had a back story. Even the wiki says there's nothing known about his past life, so I thought I would write about it, because I have a vision of who he used to be, and eventually became the person we see in the game.

This will be a bit of an au, I'm adding in an oc so that there's someone to interact with him for most of the story. Also, the reason this will be an au is because I'm changing one minor scene from the game, but I'm not spoiling that right now!

I'm going to try my best to write this in first person, I don't usually write that way, but for this time, I am. I feel like it fits a lot more ~

The Last of Us, Ellie, Joel, and David all belong to Naughty Dog; only my OC belongs to me.

Enjoy!

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><p><span>- Prologue -<span>

It had been a few days. Ellie and Joel will probably leave tomorrow, I think, but I'm not sure.

These last few days have probably been the hardest of my life, the emptiness of what I had done always hovering over my head. No one knew why but me, though I had a feeling it would change soon.

I didn't really show much emotion to these two, I never have much away. But when Ellie walks up to me, the look on her face tells me that'll probably change tonight.

She sits across from me, and I do my best to offer her a smile. She's an interesting kid, one of the strongest I've ever seen. I feel bad for what she's gone through, almost like it was my fault for allowing it to happen, even if I wasn't there. I should've never left him that day.

"Hello Ellie." I greet with a smile, watching her carefully with my worn expression.

She doesn't return the smile, but rather pulls her legs up to her chest as she waves.

"Hey, Ellen. Can I ask you something? I mean it's personal, but we'll be leaving soon, me and Joel, and curiosity will always bite me in the ass if I don't ask." She spoke, watching me.

I try to avoid a sigh, though a deep breath escapes my lips anyways. I'm almost certain I know what this is about, but I'll let her confirm anyways.

"Sure, Ellie. I'm fine with questions." I respond, watching her calmly.

"Well, it's just... David." I knew it would be about him. "What's your story with him? I mean, he seemed pretty torn up, and so did you, the other day when... You know." Ellie spoke, almost looking like she regretting asking as it probably was a touchy topic with me.

Well, she wasn't wrong, but I figured it would be good to talk about it. I hadn't spoken about me and David to anyone really, never. A lot of people knew, but a lot of people didn't anymore since most of them were dead.

Maybe it would be good to talk about it?

"Alright Ellie, I'll tell you the truth about everything, so you'll understand." I spoke after a good pause, the silence indicating some consideration to her question.

"But it's a long one, and it obviously doesn't have a pretty ending, as you saw. But I'll tell you anyways."

I say back in my chair, remaining silent a moment to think. Ellie watched me with some sort of bright interest, as if she was really and truly interested in this story before it even had started.

Where did it all start again? I had to think to remember where it had started. It was so long ago, at least it felt that way. In all actuality, it was only around nine or ten years ago... I couldn't recall exactly.

"It all started back when the infection first began spreading severely to the states.

For me and him, it started somewhere in Michigan..."

I closed my eyes, allowing myself to go all the way back into those memories again. It was hard, looking passed the last ten years like that and ignoring the other memories to pinpoint this one exactly, but it also was easy to remember the better memories in the past.

An image of that day popped up in my head, and I smiled just a bit in remembrance of it.

"Oh yes, I remember it clearly now..."


	2. Chapter 1

- Chapter One -

Growing up in Michigan, things were good. Calm, warm, comforting. I lived in the city of Milford for a long time, grew up there playing in the lakes as a kid, until I was much older and moved to Flint.

That city, it was a dangerous one depending on where you lived, but nothing too bad. Watch yourself when walking at night alone, try to avoid certain neighborhoods, and most of the time you'd be alright.

After the infection started going around, people up north thought themselves to be safe. After all, we were the farthest north, it would most likely get to us last. We also used to have one of the best hospitals in the country, right in the heart of Ann Arbor.

Nothing could save us though; not the location, not the hospitals, not even fleeing. We all got hit just as bad as everyone else, and that arrogance about fighting the infection went away very quickly.

Now I don't know about you, but I would rather not live in an already shitty city during this shitty time. So, heading south seemed like a good plan to me.

I thought about my family before I started off, wondering if I should go back and try to find them, but it would be too difficult. Even if I could fight my way to their old homes, I most likely wouldn't find them there. They would be gone, whether they left to go someplace else, or maybe fight till they died. I knew I wouldn't find them.

When I started south, I didn't really have a destination in mind. Probably someplace warm, where I could survive winters without worrying about freezing to death.

Somewhere along the way, I learned that there were different civilizations desperately trying again, groups of survivors who were trying to build a new community again, and that appealed to me greatly.

It didn't take too much to arrive to Indiana, a few days of driving from flint. Normally that would only take about six to eight hours, but it took much longer with all the stops I had to make, and all the chaos going on.

I was lucky to pass the border to the state, things had started to get pretty bad out. I stopped in Indiana for a few days, pleased to find quite a few supplies in Indianapolis still available.

That's where I met David, actually.

He was one of the men passing out supplies to people. They all technically were looters I suppose, they stole a lot of supplies from all over when things started getting bad, but they were passing them out to people in hopes of saving as many people as they could.

I was in his line for getting supplies, each person had to wait their turn as each of the men packed them a bad and based it off before the next person could go.

"All this happening, and I'd expect people like you to be moving away from the problem, or hoarding their supplies, not sticking around to give them all away!" I laughed when my turn came, watching this man pack my bag.

He smiled, looking up at me. "I probably would leave, but I feel like I should help these people. They need it after all, right?" He would reply. "Besides, I always say, everything happens for a reason."

That man, he was soft hearted. I remember that particularly, when I knew him. He always wanted to help people; it was his goal with everything he did.

"Where you headed?" He asked me, looking up from the bag he was packing for a moment to get a good look at me. I delayed my response, since I didn't have an exact destination in mind.

"South. Need someplace warmer when winter comes, I can't stick around here too long. I think you should probably too." I admitted, figuring it was the best answer. Honest, without actually saying I don't know where.

He nodded, looking back down at his work.

"I see. That's a good thought in mind, actually, though I wouldn't go too far, I hear rumors that the spores survive even better in the warm." He advised me.

"Really? Nice to know, I'll keep that in mind. What about you, where will you go?" I asked him back. I figured it probably would be a good idea to ask around what other people were planning on doing, where they planned on going.

"Not sure, actually," I suddenly felt embarrassed, maybe ashamed that I wasn't honest about knowing where to go, though he could admit it to me. "I haven't really planned what to do from here. Help these people I reckon, but after that I'm not sure."

He smiled warmly at me as he handed me the bag of supplies. "I wish you luck uh... What was your name?" He asked, leaning against his table a bit.

"Ellen. And I wish you luck as well, don't stick around one place for too long." I said with a smile back as I held out a hand.

He shook it, nodding. "David."

That was the extent of our first encounter, and I left him there to continue with the next person in line. Heading back to my car, I looked through everything I had. It would probably be best for me to stick around for another day or two, I decided, and got into the car to sleep.


	3. Chapter 2

- Chapter 2 -

Something about first encounters seemed to stick with me. Particularly the one with David, I kept thinking about it.

No, not in any sappy romantic way, he could've been anyone really. The fact that he was really the only person I had a conversation with since I left Michigan, that's what hit me.

I was always wary of most people at that time, and I just assumed most people were.

The fact that the people were trying to stick together at that place stuck with me, and hearing different people's points of views with things also interested me.

There was a news board in the heart of the city, where people often stuck up news they knew, passers from other states told what was happening there, and places to avoid because of spores and infected.

I found myself there, observing the maps, the news, reading up and figuring out what I should do for my trip. Some states in the south seemed to have a good amount of resources, but it seemed like there were more reports of infected zones in the south.

Maybe David had been right? I never really found out actually, whether or not spores survived better in the warmth or not. I just assumed.

"I think I'll stick around the middle somewhere." His voice would say from behind me, which made me jump. I turned around to see David there, looking up at the board with consideration. He only looked at me when I turned around, and smiled a bit.

"Sorry, didn't mean to scare you." He apologized, shaking his head.

"Just saw a familiar face and was passing by, is all." He added in.

I just smiled and shook my head. "It's completely fine. It's good to see a familiar face too." I replied with a smile. "Shouldn't you be at your post?"

"Of course, I was just heading there now, but we're sort a man so I was trying to see if I could find someone else to take over his spot on the line." He replied.

I didn't know if he was saying it as if he was telling me, or if he was hinting that he wanted me to help out. Either way, I decided it was my place to help out.

"Well I probably won't be leaving until sometime tomorrow. I can help out, if you'd like?" I would offer him, and he would smile back at me.

"You don't have to do that, but to be completely honest, I'm having a hard time finding someone. I wouldn't mind you coming along."

And that's that. I came along with him, worked in a line next to his. He showed me what to pack in each bag, and even showed me the best place to put some things.

We worked for hours out there, chatting to each other about things. I learned he was born in Indiana, and that he grew up with his parents and older brother.

Unfortunately, he was the only one of those four who had made it even that far in the game, it seemed like they were gone.

By the time we finished our jobs, we decided to share a nice bottle of alcohol. I can't recall what it was, whether it were rum, scotch, vodka... Either way, I drank too much to remember.

"I don't know what I'm gonna do." He would mumble to me in his own drunken state sometime that night.

"Things are getting rough a lot faster than we imagined. These lines, we thought they would last for another few months at least, but supplies aren't coming in as much, we're running low, and I'm gonna be out of a job."

David looked sincerely distraught. You see, he was attached to his home, not wanting to leave no matter wha. It was his home, those were his people, and he wanted to stay for as long as possible.

"David. It's not gonna be safe here soon. You need to get out of here as soon as possible, really. Maybe even before the lines run out, get yourself a head start." I replied, taking another long swig of the drink.

He shook his head at me. "I don't got anywhere to go. As far as I know, this place is safe. It's safe because I know it,

I know the area, I know what's happening, I know what to expect. Wondering into new territory, you don't know who, or what you'll find out there. I'm not sure I'm ready for that yet."

So he was afraid. It was completely understandable, I didn't blame him. I was scared too. But I also knew staying in one place, especially like this, wouldn't do him any good.

"So what? You can't stay here forever, something will drive you out eventually. People, clickers, no supplies... It's best you get out while you can, drive away, cross borders, try to find a decent place to stay for awhile. This isn't it."

"I know I know, it's just a generally difficult choice I suppose." He took a swig of his drink as well.

"How about we just go? Me and you, tomorrow, we drive off and try to make it?" I suggested.

Now obviously that might've not been the best choice. I hardly knew him, even if we had been talking all day, getting to know each other. In my mind at that moment though, I had a few different thoughts.

• I would probably die alone, especially if I ran into big groups of people, or clickers.

• Even if he wasn't trustworthy and would end up killing me later on, it didn't really matter to me at that point because without him I would die soon anyways.

Besides, he seemed decent enough to me, and was the only person I actually knew enough to talk to. If I went off, who knew if I'd have the opportunity to make a new ally. And I suppose the same went for him, he seemed to be pretty aimless with his plans.

"That'll never work. What, go south? I don't know..." He seemed reluctant.

"Come on, it'll be fun! Even if we go down, at least we go down while exploring and fighting. We can go around, south first. If it doesn't work out, we'll go somewhere else. If we stay here, I can promise we will die soon." I was persistent, a smile played on my lips as my lazy eyes watched him carefully.

He remained silent for awhile, as if thinking it over. I knew it had been a hard choice leaving my home, but I also knew it had been a good choice. North was the last to get his with infection, and the army was making their way up to kill off anyone they seemed infected. I wasn't about to stick around for a massacre.

I wondered if that thought passed his mind too, because right after that came to my mind, he looked up and nodded at me. "Alright, I'll take your offer. Lets go south, and see what we can find."

We smiled at each other warmly, both of us looking rather tired and out of it. This was most likely because there was now an empty bottle on the ground.

The rest of that night we didn't speak, we stayed away on the ground and looked at the sky. Sometimes I wonder what he was thinking about, maybe how his life would change after tomorrow, what he would do with his life,

Or perhaps the alcohol left the thoughts inside of his head silent.

I don't know what he was thinking about. All I knew was that after that, I remained awake for an hour longer gazing at the sky, before I blacked out entirely.


	4. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3 **

**Now David, me and him travelled to many different corners of the country together. I suppose by me telling you that, it just proves that going to the south didn't work out, huh? Though, I guess the fact that we're in Colorado also gives that away. **

**Me and him woke up the next morning hungover, but didn't comment on it. A lot of our conversation had been forgotten, but the talk about leaving together still lingered.**

**"Are you still sure you want to do this?" I asked him, watching him with consideration. "I don't want to act like I took advantage of you by making you decide when you were drunk." **

**David paused a moment, as if thinking about it again. I was worried he would change his mind, since I had already started to plan things out for two people. Though, I suppose things wouldn't have been too different if he chose not to come, at that time at least. I mean, like I said, I hardly knew him, it was a spur of the moment choice, I wanted a companion because I figured it was the end of the world anyways.**

**"Nah, I'm sure. But I don't think I'll be doing much of the choosing just yet, you'll be in charge of making the big choices around here." He finally spoke, smiling in my direction. **

**I wasn't sure if I was happy with that or not. I liked making choices, sure, but now it also worried me that I would be responsible for our lives based on what choices I made. **

**I hoped I was making the right choice, I hoped I would survive for a long time and wouldn't have to deal with being responsible for someone's death.**

**But I pushed all that aside, just smiled and nodded at him. "Great! Then let's pack up our supplies." I responded, giving out the first command. **

**I also decided we would take both vehicles, mine and his. That way, if one of us broke down, we had a backup. Two vehicles were better than one after all, right? **

**David had insisted we stop back at his house before we left, and I wasn't in any place to deny him that. I went with him even, so we could leave from his house.**

**I can remember that house vividly. **

**It was two floors, a level floor, an upstairs, three bedrooms, and rather large rooms altogether. **

**The outside of the house was untidy. The flowers were dead, weeds stuck around in random areas, and the grass grew widely throughout the yard as if it hasn't been cut in a few week. **

**I wasn't sure how long the infection had been lingering around Indiana, but it seemed like the house had been abandoned a few months prior to when me and him went to it.**

**The inside was a bit nicer looking, but simply ominous. Since we were leaving later in the day, and there were no longer lights in the house, it only glowed slightly with the faint sunlight that remained outside.**

**Family pictures lined the walls, there were some dishes in the sink, an unfolded blanket lay across the couch. Though, no one was home. **

**I think that's what bothered me most about this place, and it's probably the real reason why I never went to find my family. This house looked as if it were ready for a family to come home and live in, but it never would again. **

**Though there were the photos, the blankets, the dishes, all the little things, they would remain that way forever, because no one would ever come home to it again.**

**And the silence, that bothered me too. I felt as if there should've been life in that house, a happy family, as there most likely was not so very long ago, but the silence made it feel like I was in a home that hadn't been resided in many years.**

**Not even David spoke as he walked around, also looking at the pictures as he made his way upstairs. I wondered what he was thinking, why he didn't say anything, what could possibly be going through his head at that moment. He didn't speak that whole time though, all he did was go into his brothers room, take his machete, and make his way back down to leave. **

**David later told me that he was silent because he wasn't sure what to think. He felt like the only reason he should speak in that house would be to talk to his family, but they weren't there anymore. **

**They were silent in their home, so David decided he would be too, I suppose. **

**That was one of many conversations me and him had. I would absolutely love to tell you all of them, but they'd just be pointless and turn into rambles. That's not what this is for, right? **

**So, after he got what he wanted, we each got into our own vehicle to go. I leaned my head out the window, looking behind me. **

**"Are you all set?" I asked, rising my brows in question.**

**A nod and a thumbs up was all I needed, but I also caught a glimpse of a small smile from him inside his truck. **

**There was something reassuring about that, I decided, when I started driving forward. Something that showed there was still hope for everyone, even the ones who lost their families. **


End file.
